13 May 2013

DISCLAIMER:We apologise for the title of this piece; There may be more distinctly cheesy Bill Cosby puns coming up; Those of a nervous disposition might want to watch Leonard Part 6 instead and we'll let you know when we're done, although having seen that film, I recommend you stick with us. Bill Cosby. A person who has probably become a bit of a parody of himself, no thanks in part to numerous pisstakes on Family Guy and The Simpsons. Add to that his cuddly, loveable buffoon image on The Cosby Show and you may be thinking you just can't take the man seriously.
Well, shame on you, you should. He starred in the great 60's spoof spy series I Spy as well as Mother, Jugs & Speed and Uptown Saturday Night. But the main reason why you Amazosonians should take this man seriously? He's a petrolhead. Oh yeah.
As well as once being the spokesperson for Ford of America back in the 1970's, he's owned some pretty tasty automobiles; various Rollers and Italian exotica almost go without saying; but he also owned one of the two Cobra Super Snakes. It may have had an automatic transmission, but the Super Snake also had a 427ci big-block Ford V8 with twin Paxton superchargers and 925 bhp. Thats nine hundred and twenty five brake horsepower. Gulp. Only two were built.
After being persuaded by Carroll Shelby, Cosby bought it, drove it once, and then promptly sold it to someone else as it terrified him, a fact he elaborates on in his '200mph' skit:

Going back to his love of Italian thoroughbreds and Ferraris in particular, he also owned this Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2. Not to be confused with the later (and almost identical looking) 400 successor with the GM automatic transmission, The model was introduced in 1972 to replace the 365 GTC/4, with a chassis derived from that of the legendary 365 GTB/4 Daytona. The 365 GT4 2+2 featured all-new Pininfarina bodywork; it was longer and wider to fulfil its role as a relaxed grand tourer but most of the running gear, including the engine, were carried over from it's Daytona forebearer. These cars were never officially imported to the States, so I assume he ordered it through the 'Milano Imports' as mentioned on the plaque.
Now take a moment to get used to the colour. Now on the face of it, brown, and a shade of brown that reminds you of, you know, that stuff should be the worst colour to have a car painted in, but this brown horse has kinda grown on everyone in the office. The car is currently for sale on eBay for $37,500; I spy a bargain for someone stateside....

The mallet is for the knock off nuts; this brown beauty has centre-lock wheels

Vic Elford (the driver in the photo) and Gerard Larrousse won Sebring in 1971 driving this Martini & Rossi Porsche 917K. Their main competition came from the John Wyer Gulf Porsche 917 team and the Penske prepared Ferrari 512M driven by Mark Donohue and David Hobbs.

During the race, Pedro Rodriguez's Gulf Porsche 917 had a coming together with the Mark Donohue Ferrari 512M. Donohue always felt that Rodriguez and the Porsche teams were trying to knock him out of the race. Some felt that the Penske Ferrari 512M had the best chance of beating Porsche 917s at both Daytona and Sebring but accidents at both races ruined their chances..

8 May 2013

9-10 March 2013, Reims Parc Des Expos.
The Salon Champagne Vehicle Collection is among the five largest European trade fairs. A similar format to our Enfield and Bromley Pageants, There were copious amounts of classic cars on display an autojumble, model stands and vintage magazine vendors. According to official figures, more than 26,000 visitors from throughout Europe attended the two-day event.
More pictures here.

Alfa Romeo 1750 saloon:

Rare Giulia Sprint GT Veloce:

Alpine-Renault A110:

A brace of Auto Union 1000:

2CV and Arcadiane campers:

Ami 6, deux fois:

The want is strong for this base-spec BX...

...and this GS Break. 80's Citroens seem to be undergoing a renaissance: